Hey there,
So, I'm new here obviously. I've been lurking around and reading stuff for a while but haven't really engaged until now. Sadly, I've come out of the shadow looking for help.

My name is Mark and I've been building and working on cars, motorcycles, airplanes, tractors, go karts, garbage disposals, crappy Chinese toys and any other damn thing my kids throw in front of me for about 35 years now. For the last few years now, my particular sickness (the need to work on junk) has driven me to rovers. I have found they provide me nearly endless opportunities to tinker.....and that is good....unless you ask my wife.

So, I've purchased a series IIA 109 SW... Sort of. It was a complete truck with a chassis so rotten as to be un towable....you know the thin papery material that wasps make their nests out of?....it is way stronger than what the body of my 109 was affixed to.

My goal is to use this 109 as a daily driver. I have recently upgraded my welder and plasma cutter. Why have I told you these seemingly unrelated facts?... Because I (without any idea what I'm really getting into) have decided to put the 109 body on a RRC LWB chassis that I already have laying around. So, here are my questions:

1) does anyone have pictures of a LWB RRC chassis they have modified for a 109 body?...or step by step instructions?....or access to elves who will sneak into my garage at night and just make it happen?

2) not sure which powerplant I'm going use. I have a V8 but will probably use a Tdi. In either case, I plan to use a R380 and attached LT230. Can I use the long bell housing R380? It's the only one readily available in the US without dealing with shifty characters in dark alleys. How much shorter is the short one anyway?...seems like it can't be more than a few inches and still have the pressure plate and flywheel fit.

3) as I'm sure you already guessed, my bulkhead is rusty junk. Are these things really unobtanium? Although patching this thing back together goes a long way toward justifying my welder/plasma cutter upgrades, it seems silly. Does anyone have a line on a good one in the US?...if not, how about a good step by step or aforementioned elves?

The older I get, the more I appreciate not having to learn things the hard way. I'm hoping your collective mistakes can reduce my own to a few really hilariously expensive disasters.

Thanks in advance for your help on my latest mania. I'll post a few pictures in here soon...if I can figure out how.

Mark